Ruby M. Schmitt
  • Born on: March 26, 1912
  • Departed on: December 27, 2002

Ruby M. Schmitt

Ruby Schmitt, 90, a resident of Lantern Park Rehab and Care Center, Coralville, died there Friday December 27, 2002, following a long illness. There will be no services. The Cremation Society of Eastern Iowa is in charge of the arrangements. Ruby was the daughter of Lois Rachael Darting Martin and Joseph Selden Martin on March 26, 1912, near Sweetland Center, Muscatine County, IA. Her early days were spent in and about Sweetland Center. After graduation from Muscatine High School in 1929, the infamous Norman Baker Enterprises in Muscatine employed Ruby for several capacities. When she married Vernon J. Schmitt on April 11, 1931, at Aledo, IL, she was terminated from that employment because of Mr. Baker''s policy of not employing married women. Midwest Farms in Muscatine employed Vernon where he managed their greenhouses. The birth of the couple''s two sons, Ronald Vernon and Duane Martin, occupied Ruby’s time until in 1939 she sought employment outside the home. The family had now relocated to Davenport where she began working with Geifman’s Grocery for over ten years. The family then moved to Tipton where they farmed with Ruby’s parents. In 1953 they moved to Wisconsin where they continued to engage in farming. Vernon, with Ruby at his side, operated a large dairy herd. 1958 found the family in Evansville, WI working at Baker Mfg. Co. That same year, August 4, 1958, their youngest son, at age 23 died from injuries in an automobile accident. He left his young wife with two small children and another that would be born in a few months. In 1966, the couple moved back to Iowa, farming the land of Earnest Gaul west of Tipton. Vernon died unexpectedly on July 10, 1968, of a massive heart attack. Ruby moved to the second floor apartment in Sheet’s Funeral Home where she answered the phones and took the city’s week-end emergency calls, staying until 1970. Ruby moved back to Davenport, IA, in 1970 and was employed as head bookkeeper and office manager for Crescent Baking Co. She remained with them until 1980 when she officially retired. In 1983 she moved back to Wisconsin to be with her family. She remained there until September 2000 when she returned to Tipton, IA. After some illness and hospitalization in January and February of 2001, Ruby was forced to leave her independent living and moved into the Lantern Park Nursing and Rehab Center in Coralville, IA. She celebrated her 90th birthday there in March 2002. Ruby maintained her membership at St. John’s United Methodist Church in Davenport, IA. Ruby is survived by five sisters: Mary Hagens of Muscatine, IA; Lucille Meiresonne of Wilmette, IL; Josephine Rostenbach and husband Wayne of Bettendorf, IA; Vera Dayle Martin and husband Don of Coralville, IA and Audrey Ann Jean of Buena Park, CA. She is also survived by two brothers, Harry Martin and wife Alta of Murphy, NC and William Martin and wife Elaine of Spartanburg, SC. She is also survived by a sister-in-law, Audrey Martin of Tipton, IA and a daughter-in-law, Barbara Farnum of Beloit, WI. Ruby has eight grandchildren, fourteen great-grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband Vernon; two sons, Ronald and Duane; a great-grandson Lucas Schuett; two sisters Ruth Martin and Olive Alberhasky; a brother, Walter “Bud” Martin, and her parents Lois and Joseph. For memorial donations please consider a donation to St Paul’s United Methodist Church, Iowa City Hospice, or Lantern Park Rehab and Care Center.
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